


Paths Most Dangerous

by charvill1981



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Conspiracy, F/M, Season 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 08:51:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5369225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charvill1981/pseuds/charvill1981
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What would you do if you knew the danger of your children’s choices, but you couldn’t tell them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paths Most Dangerous

**Author's Note:**

> This story is something I have wanted to write about for over ten years, but just didn’t know how I wanted to introduce it.

He sat in the overstuffed, black leather recliner Maggie had bought him for their recent thirtieth anniversary, flipping through a photo album from their house in San Diego over twenty years before. A photo of Charles hugging Jefferson, the black Lab they’d had through three separate deployments, had his attention when he heard the phone ring. 

 

“Bill!” Maggie called from the other room. “Honey, pick up, it’s for you!”

 

“Okay, thanks!” he answered back before reaching over to the end table and lifting the cordless receiver to his ear.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Bill, it’s Angelo,” the familiar baritone replied. “It’s been a long time.”

 

“It has.” He smiled, happy to hear from an old friend. Especially one with whom he’d spent so many years in the service. “How are things in New York?”

 

“Things…things are good. Jill is doing well, and the kids are off to college….”

 

“Yeah, I remember those days.” Something was off, he thought as he paused to let his friend jump in the way he normally did when they talked. The difference was so large that it had the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. “Ang, you sound like you’ve got something on your mind. What’s going on?”

 

He could hear his old friend let out a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. “It’s my work.”

 

“Your work? I thought things were going well.”

 

“They were. We were finally making political headway and getting past red tape.”

 

“And now?”

 

He could hear papers shuffling, as if Angelo was sitting at his desk. Knowing the rich tastes his Jersey friend had, he could just imagine the oversized mahogany wood monstrosity before him as he loomed over it in a leather, high back winged chair. 

 

“I received a piece of intel from a senator friend of mine. It involves the FBI,” he said conspiratorially, knowing this would send up red flags with Bill.

 

“Why are you telling me this Angelo?”

 

“I think you know…. Your daughter received a new assignment within the Bureau recently, isn’t that correct?”

 

He sat up straight and looked down at the album in his lap where an 8-year-old freckled face girl with red pigtails stared up at him. “This is about Dana?”

 

“Bill, I wish I could tell you it wasn’t.” Another deep sigh from his friend. “I called you as soon as I found out about her involvement.”

 

Involvement? “Is she in danger?” He looked towards the door of his office, wondering how he would tell his wife this news. What the hell had his daughter gotten mixed up with? 

 

“I honestly don’t know. I was contacted this afternoon by this person who was trying to get information from me. There is a group I have been working very closely with…” Bill felt a chill come over him. He knew the kind of work his friend did meant dealing with some very unsavory and shady people. The kind of people they despised doing dirty work for when they were in the Navy together. But, he also knew sometimes it was a necessary evil.

 

“Ang,” he interrupted. “I know you have your secrets. And I know why you have them. I don’t want to know anything that will put the security of my family at risk.”

 

His friend was quiet for a moment, and then asked,” “Did Dana tell you about her new partner?”

 

“She did.” Of course, she had. He’d even met him for about five seconds when he dropped her by the house after they flew in to Baltimore, coming back from a case in Alaska. He could picture the young man walking up the stoop to briefly introduce himself. Only now, he imagined grabbing him by the lapels of his jacket. “Said his name is Mulder. She seems to admire him, why? Is he the problem?”

 

“Agent Mulder is the one who reopened the X-Files department. The group I work with are the ones who allowed it to happen. Not everyone was pleased with that decision, however.”

 

The tone his friend was using was causing him severe anxiety. “So you’re telling me they have enemies with power. Is that right?” 

 

“That is correct. Look, I know how this all sounds—“

 

“It sounds like a damn conspiracy of men is what it sounds like, Angelo!” He stood up, tossing the photo album on the desk and began to pace. His friend remained quiet. “Look, I appreciate you taking the risk by calling me, but I am a man of action. You know that. What can be done about this?”

 

“At this point, not a lot. The senator I was telling you about. He’s an old friend of Mulder’s and his family. They share the same goals.”

 

“Goals? He’s an FBI agent. What goals does he have besides providing answers and justice…” And that’s when he understood: the X-Files. He felt his knees go out from underneath him, the lip of his desk catching him just in time.

 

“Bill? Bill, are you alright?” 

 

The very few bits about her new job his daughter had offered suddenly made sense. “He’s very dedicated to his search for what he calls ‘the truth’…he’s open to answers that are outside the…traditional…his profiling abilities, his belief in paranormal…it’s hard to explain sometimes…but that’s where my medical and science background come in…but, our work is much more fulfilling than I thought it would be when I was assigned.”

 

“It’s the same thing, isn’t it Angelo?”

 

“Bill-“

 

“It’s the same thing we saw on the subs. The thing we fought to expose, but was swept under a million pounds of so-called regulations and orders from on high. He’s looking for it, too. And now he’s got my baby girl in the middle of this…”. He gritted his teeth in frustration. “After all the things we went through to keep them safe…”

 

“That’s why I called you. Look, I swear to you, I will do everything in my power to keep them safe. Even if it means keeping them in the dark.”

 

He laughed bitterly, shaking his head as he visualized her standing in front of him, so full of life and hope as she told him about how much thought she had put into her decision to not pursue private practice, instead going to Quantico. His youngest daughter, determined to expose and track down criminals, to shed light with her medical reports that would bring about justice. And, here he stood; ready to extinguish all of it. 

 

“Thank you, Angelo. Keep me in the loop and give my best to Jill, okay?”

 

“You know I will, old friend. Take care.”

 

As he clicked “End” and walked over to set the phone back on the charger, the door opened. His wife entered the room, arms crossed over her chest and a look she had passed down to their youngest daughter etched like stone on her face. “Tell me what he said, Bill.”

 

He looked down at the floor, knowing he couldn’t hide this from her but wishing like Hell that he could. When he built up enough courage to look into her blue eyes that had seen so much tragedy and, yet, held so much strength, he nodded. Slowly making the three steps across the room, he took her by the hand and said, “Let’s go sit in front of the fire for a bit.”

**Author's Note:**

> Dying to know what you guys thought! I love these characters and wish we’d gotten to know them better! You can also find me at Tumblr @charvill1981 on Twitter @charvill or email me txcb1013@gmail.com


End file.
